Gold Eyes New Buyers as East Africa Plans Reserve Push

The East African Community’s directive to coordinate gold reserve accumulation across its member central banks signals a broadening of the emerging-market gold buying trend that has helped push prices above $5,000.

What to know

The East African Community (EAC) has tasked the Bank of Tanzania with educating bloc central banks on establishing coordinated gold purchasing programs.
Gold is trading at $5,080.90/oz, up 4.05% on the week, with the broader trend of central bank buying from non-Western economies remaining a dominant demand driver.
The EAC bloc comprises eight member states - Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda - representing over 300 million people.

What happened

The East African Community has formally directed the Bank of Tanzania to lead an educational initiative across the region’s central banks on gold reserve accumulation. Tanzania, which has been the most active gold buyer in the bloc, is now positioned as the template for a coordinated regional strategy.

Gold is trading at $5,080.90/oz, having gained over 4% in the past week and more than 3.5% over the month. The metal has traded in a $4,400–$5,586 range over the past 30 days, reflecting volatility that continues to draw institutional and sovereign attention.

Who’s involved

Tanzania has been steadily building gold reserves in recent years, part of a broader African trend that mirrors purchases from China’s PBOC, India’s RBI, and Poland’s NBP. Tanzania’s domestic gold mining sector - the country is Africa’s fourth-largest producer - gives it a sourcing advantage for local metal at lower premiums.

The other seven EAC members are at varying stages of reserve development. Kenya and Rwanda have relatively more sophisticated financial systems, while South Sudan and Somalia face institutional challenges that could slow adoption. The DRC sits on enormous mineral wealth but has struggled with governance in its extractive sectors.

Net central bank purchases have consistently exceeded 1,000 tonnes annually in recent years, reshaping the supply-demand equation for gold.

Why it matters

EAC gold buying alone won’t move global prices - these are small central banks with modest reserve portfolios. The significance lies in the pattern: gold reserve accumulation is shifting from a strategy pursued by a handful of large emerging-market central banks to a coordinated regional policy framework adopted by smaller nations.

When eight central banks simultaneously begin building gold positions, the cumulative effect compounds. It also signals that de-dollarisation sentiment and reserve diversification have moved beyond the BRICS narrative into smaller economic blocs.

The parallel is to the early 2010s, when several Southeast Asian central banks began coordinated reserve diversification. That shift was initially dismissed as marginal but contributed to gold’s structural bid over the following decade.

With gold above $5,000 and the gold-to-silver ratio at 61.7, the precious metals complex is absorbing new demand sources. Silver’s 12% weekly gain suggests speculative interest is broadening across the sector.

What to watch

Whether the Bank of Tanzania publishes a formal framework or timeline would signal this is more than a talking-shop directive. Whether any EAC member begins reporting gold reserve changes in IMF data within the next two quarters matters. So does the broader trend of regional economic blocs adopting coordinated gold strategies - if SADC or ECOWAS follow suit, the demand implications become more significant. The $5,000 level is now acting as a psychological floor, but whether the buyer base is widening fast enough to sustain prices at these levels remains unclear.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.